By Joyce Eisele
BOONE, Iowa (July 27, 2024) – Boone Speedway was host to the third and final night of this year’s Hunting with Heroes Salute to Veterans night on Saturday. Veterans and their spouses were admitted free, given a meal and drink, a goodie bag, and more. The stands were packed to watch the 201 race cars on hand for the special night of racing.
A moving pre-race ceremony in front of the grandstand honored all veterans in attendance, special recognition and awards given to some of those on hand, and the specially wrapped Salute to Veterans race cars were showcased. First Responders from law, fire, and ambulance were also on hand.
Ten drivers had special wraps on their cars to honor veterans in some way. The overall best car winner voted on by the veterans went to Stock Car driver Jim Horejsi of Marshall, Minn., with hisPearl Harborsalute.
The other Salute to Veterans wraps were Modified drivers Joel Rust with his Air Force Air Superiority – The F15E Strike Eagles, Cody Thompson’s US Army wrap, and Jerry Flippo with “The American Dream is Worth the Fight” wrap. Joining the overall winner Horejsi in the Stock Car class were Kevin Opheim’s “A Flying Family” honoring two from his family who had served, and Donovan Smith saluted the American Sacrifice of the Fighting Sullivan Brothers. SportMod wraps were Taylor Kuehl, with her Rosie the Riveter Revisited, and Shelby Alves honored pilot Jackie Cochran, the “Speed Queen.”
You couldn’t miss Brandon Nielsen’s Hobby Stock and its US Navy Blue Angels theme and Mike Smith’s Hobby Stock honored the United States Marine Corps.
Before the features were run, the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds had their inaugural race of champions that featured previous year’s winners from a Salute to Veterans race. The winner was Nick Meyer, who had just completed his race car recently for his return to racing in 2024.
The first feature of the evening was the 15-lap main event for the Stealth Racing IMCA STARS Mod Lites.
Austin Gray started on the pole and despite late challenges by Charlie Brown, hung on tight to the lead and took the checkers.Following second place Brown was Bryan Zehm in third.
The Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods ran 20 laps for their feature.
Matt Avila started on the pole, and despite four cautions, led the entire race to prevail and take the win. It was a close race behind him for second and third with Cole Fenske holding off 13th place starter Cam Reimers at the line.This marked Avila’s fourth trip to the winner’s circle at Boone this season.
Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds went 30 laps for their feature.
Hometown racer Jake McBirnie took advantage of his pole starting position, shot off to the lead when the race went green and never looked back.
He smoothly navigated the track lap after lap, pulling away in the latter part of the race and took the convincing win by a lengthy margin.Tripp Gaylord and Zachary Madrid gave the crowd a good entertaining battle for second and third, with Gaylord winning out in that contest.
This was McBirnie’s fifth time to visit victory lane at the Boone Speedway this season.
IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars were up to do battle next, for their 25-lap feature.
Kelly Shryock had a chance to be the first-ever three-time winner in a year for Salute to Veterans and seemed to be on a mission as he and early leader Jay Schmidt duked it out through the first 15 laps of the event.
Both of those drivers were knocked out and out of the race with mishaps by lap 17 and it was third place starter Troy Jerovetz in command as Tyler Pickett and McBirnie began to make their quest to overtake the leader.
A late-race caution at lap 22 was no issue for Jerovetz as he went home to the flying checkers and captured his first win of the year at the track. Pickett and McBirnie finished second and third, respectively.
The IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks put a nightcap on the night’s racing with a 20-lap feature that went green to checkers.
Solomon Bennett started fourth and had the lead on lap one with Will Smith tagging on to run second. There was a big gaggle of cars behind the leaders as they jostled for position.
By lap nine, Dylan Nelson, who started 10th, had made the top side of the track work to his advantage and had taken over the lead. A few laps later, Mike Smith and Brandon Nielsen had thrown their hats into the ring and were charging hard on the leader.
Smith dove to the underside coming out of turn two and got under Nelson to take the lead when lap 17 was scored and Nielsen followed suit to take over second. In the final run to the checkers out of turn four, Nielsen made it a close contest at the finish line, but Mike Smith prevailed to take the win, Nielsen taking a close second place.Dylan Nelson took third.
Saturday, Aug. 3 will be another night of IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing with the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts joining the regular classes. Pits open at 4:30 p.m. and the grandstand opens at 5:30 p.m., with hot laps at 6 p.m. and racing at 7 p.m.
